Giants beat Lions 30-17 | Reasons to be optimistic, concerned after strong games from Davis Webb and front-seven

DETROIT -- As Eli Manning, Saquon Barkley, and Odell Beckham sat out Friday night's 30-17 win over the Lions, there was plenty to be taken away from the play of the Giants' defense, backup quarterback Davis Webb, as well as some reason to worry about veteran running back Jonathan Stewart and the starting secondary.

Webb was impressive throughout the first half, getting the start in place of Manning, and completed 14-of-20 passes for 140 yards and one touchdown on the way to a passer rating of 106.2, which was 49 points higher than his shaky performance against the Cleveland Browns in the exhibition opener.

Two throws in particular from Webb stood out, including a 27-yard strike to Sterling Shepard who was blanketed by Lions defensive back Nevin Lawson, and a deep-ball to Russell Shepard late in the second quarter.

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On the Giants' second possession of the game, Webb orchestrated a 17-play, 79-yard scouring drive that culminated with an 8-yard touchdown pass to running back Wayne Gallman.

The possession chewed up 9:00 of game clock between the first and second quarters, but it was Webb's poise inside the 20-yard line that was most impressive.

Webb was 3-for-4 passing for 14 yards and a touchdown, and even converted a fourth-down quarterback sneak to keep the drive alive with :29 remaining in the opening quarter.

On Friday night Webb seemed to not only separate himself from rookie Kyle Lauletta in any perceived battle for the Giants' No. 2 quarterback job, but also turned the page from a shaky performance against the Browns in Week 1 of the exhibition season.

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"I just think I needed to hit the reset button," Webb said afterwards. "And kind of figure out how I play football. I want to play football at a smooth, calm level. I didn't play my best game tonight, but the guys around me made plays."

There was a lot to like about the Giants' victory, but some reasons for concern also emerged as the preseason reached its midway point and the regular season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars Sept. 9 draws closer.

Here's a look at six reasons in addition to Webb why the Giants should be optimistic, and four reasons to be concerned after Friday night:

For the second consecutive game, the Giants' run-defense was nothing short of dominant up front. Against Lions running backs Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick, the first-team defense surrendered just 14 yards in the first half.

Friday's showing is encouraging because it was followed up by the Giants holding the Browns to four yards rushing in the first quarter last week.

The Giants owned one of the league's most vulnerable run defenses in 2017, allowing an average of 120.8 yards per game and 4.2 yards per attempt en route to finishing the season ranked No. 27 in the NFL.

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2) Aldrick Rosas makes a 55-yard field goal

The Giants search for a solution at kicker seems to have been ongoing since the middle of last season, but Aldrick Rosas made a strong case for the job by drilling a 55-yard field goal after finishing last season 18-for-25.

If Rosas is able to consistently show that he can be accurate

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3) Wayne Gallman looks like a capable complement to Saquon Barkley

Throughout training camp, Wayne Gallman has flashed some explosiveness to the hole and elusiveness in the open field, but got a chance to run behind both the first-team and second-team offensive lines on Friday night with Barkley sidelined.

Gallman made the most of his opportunity, logging five carries for 26 yards and a touchdown while averaging 5.2 yards per carry. He also caught two passes for nine yards and another touchdown.

If Gallman continues to flash, it's going to be a tough sell to keep giving the majority of second-team reps to Stewart.

Granted, the Giants' first-team offense will feature Manning, Beckham, and Barkley, but it was encouraging to see Webb put together a long drive that didn't stall out or forced to settle for a field goal.

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Davis Webb to Gallman for the touchdown. #Giants have to be pleased with what they saw on that possession ... A long, time-consuming drive, that was capped with a red-zone touchdown pass.

The Giants starters saw some success on third down against the Lions, moving the chains on 3-of-7 opportunities, with two coming on Webb's touchdown drive in the middle of the second quarter.

Last season, the Giants were only able to convert 32.6 percent of their third down opportunities.

If Manning is able to have the same sort of success moving the chains as Webb, it will only keep the offense on the field, the defense fresher, and give the playmakers more opportunities to score.

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6) Lighting up the scoreboard

The last time the Giants were able to put 30 or more points on the scoreboard was during the preseason last August, and failed to reach that output in each of Ben McAdoo's two seasons as head coach.

While the Giants struggled to light up the scoreboard under McAdoo last season, the Minnesota Vikings, with Pat Shurmur calling the offensive plays averaged 23.2 points per game which is nearly eight points more than the Giants were able to muster.

Friday night, the Giants were without two of their more dynamic weapons on offense, and were still able to move the ball both with long drives and big passing plays. This was certainly an encouraging sign.

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REASONS TO WORRY:

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1) Right side of the offensive line struggles ... Again

If anything has the potential to limit the output of the weapons on the Giants' offense this season, it is subpar play by the right side of the offensive line, which was once again an issue against the Lions.

In the first quarter, Devon Kennard managed to turn around both right tackle Ereck Flowers and right guard Patrick Omameh on his way to the quarterback, and ultimately got his hand on Davis Webb's arm to disrupt his throwing motion. Kennard's forced fumble was overturned by a replay review and ruled an incompletion, but the film will not play well this weekend in the Giants' offensive line room.

At some point, it's going to be worth noting fi the Giants eventually try to give Flowers some help on that side with an extra blocking tight end, but the chemistry up front is going to have to come together quickly over the next two weeks before the aggressive Jaguars come to town for the opener.

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2) Alec Ogletree gives up another big play in coverage

For the second consecutive week, an offensive coordinator was able to isolate Giants inside linebacker Alec Ogletree in coverage against a running back, and exploit that mismatch for a big play.

Friday night, Theo Riddick broke free over the middle running a post-pattern against Ogletree and outran him for a 40-yard gain.

Ogletree is going to have to get better in coverage, the Giants are going to have to shade a safety up closer to the box, or he's going to have to come off the field on obvious passing downs because the film of the past two games is going to be well circulated among offensive coordinators across the league.

The Giants' offensive line wasn't great, by any stretch, against the Lions on Friday night, but Jonathan Stewart really struggled to get anything going.

Stewart carried the ball four times for -1 yards, and only had one positive carry -- a three-yard gain -- in a little over a quarter of work.

Stewart hasn't shown much explosiveness all summer and seems to be a step slower than Gallman and rookie Robert Martin. In all likelihood, Stewart is going to be a short-yardage back in addition to a steady veteran leadership presence, but he isn't offering the Giants much on-field production at this point, and it's going to get harder to keep Gallman and Martin off the field if they continue to outplay the veteran.

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HOW TO REACH ME:

Matt Lombardo may be reached at MLombardo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattLombardoNFL